2020 Strategic Plan

UMass Lowell's Strategic Plan for 2020

While the core mission of UMass Lowell has remained the same since the 1890s – educate, research, serve the community – the University today bears little resemblance to its early predecessor schools. In fact, the campus is very different than even five years ago, as enrollment soars, academic programs are added, buildings are constructed and a global flavor takes hold.

How does the University manage this growth? How does it respond to changing societal needs? What should the school look like in 2020?

Those questions are answered in, “UMass Lowell 2020: A Strategic Plan for the Next Decade,” developed over 18 months by more than 200 faculty, staff and students, with feedback from the entire campus as well as an external advisory group comprised of alumni and community leaders. The effort was led by Provost Ahmed Abdelal and Executive Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney.

The plan articulates a vision of UMass Lowell in the year 2020 and maps out the blueprint to get there. It sets out a comprehensive strategy that will differentiate the University by its excellence across several areas.

The University is committed to benchmarking progress toward targeted these goals and has created the UMass Lowell Report Card to track and evaluate indicators vital to success. This report identiﬁes 25 strategic indicators organized around ﬁve pillars of excellence to measure progress. Systematic analysis of the Report Card will be used to guide multi-year ﬁnancial and academic program development by the Strategic Planning Commission working closely with senior administrators, faculty, staff and students of the University.

The result of these efforts? Today and tomorrow’s students will uphold the reputation of today’s alumni as being tenacious, innovative, hard-working and well-prepared individuals ready to contribute to the world’s ever-changing complex business, community and cultural challenges.